Alexei's Intro WIP

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Working title. This is a collaboration between Arsenic and Arrow Quivershaft introducing the character Alexei.

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 Chapter One 

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Blogs – Bussrides – Stairs – Hawks and Eagles – Gender Issues

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 17:53 na-na-2038 

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First of all, I apologise for my months of absence, my inbox is absolutely stuffed with spam and the concerned and increasingly irate mails from you three readers. I was indisposed.

I caught the Torch and got lucky. I am now a Teefer, TFOR victim, I was one of the 33, forgot to pass the torch, got lit up, etc. the euphemisms keep on coming.

Needless to say, this is a bit of a bummer.

On a bright note, TFOR did not debilitate me severely, which means to you, dear reader, that you can enjoy rants about my arse that's now the size of Saturn for the next couple of months. To me it means that I can pick up all my little hobbies where they left off, which is just peachy. Seriously, where would you be if you couldn't RP anymore.

Seriously though, the last couple of months have been pretty tough, I had to relearn to do pretty much everything, including breathing. Which also has it's emotional effects, I had to spend the last month kicking off antidepressants. So, now with college in shambles I'm using the free time to re-establish my online contacts, resubmitting my chars and getting used to life being not quite human.

Which brings me to the point where I stop dawdling around the point and tell you what I have turned into. For those freaks that think this kind of stuff is awesome your time has come. ;)

In short order I am a 'Taur' cat thing, if you don't know what it is, look it up, that's what dictionaries are for. I enjoy the luxury of a nice silvery coat of fur and similarly coloured hair. Point and laugh at your digression.

And with this I sign off again, I do hope that I have entertained you three and that you bother to check this page again for updates.

~Alexei

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He submits the blog and eye his wardrobe, mostly stuff left over from before. He picks out a T-shirt, mostly to just be wearing something at all, as he hadn't quite figured out what was proper dress for a 'Taur', and his built in coat served well to keep out the Autumn chill. Then he headed out, off to meet some old friends.

Alexei made his way to the bus-stop, sat down, and waited. He still hadn't quite gotten used to the guilty stares he got from people. Not that he got many, teefers had still to loose there interesting new shine but it was rapidly becoming taboo to give them too much attention. Much like regular disabled people.

He closed his eyes, listening to the people, the cars, the cacophony of the city. After TFOR everything was different. Smell, sound, sight and touch were different. This could be blamed on the fact that his senses were different, he could hear a far greater range of sounds, it was far easier for him to identify smells, and his sense of colour had deteriorated slightly. Nevertheless there was more to it, the sounds weren't just louder, smell more meaningful and the night less of an obstacle, this alien thing wasn't his body, his body was that of a gangly student who spent long nights and days glued behind a computer screen and didn't have trouble with stairs. He wasn't Alexei at all, just some cheap disease induced shade of his former self, making him wonder exactly what and ... “and I need another fix of antidepressants.” he said to himself, startling to old biddy who had been cautiously floating around the bus-stop and him for five minutes now. The whole torch affair had given her a dreadful fright and she just wished that all these TFOR people would go somewhere else, preferably not here, perhaps Europe or something.

This feeling of alienation in his own body was steadily becoming more subtle, which reminded him that he was already forgetting what being human was like, a frightening realisation in and of itself.

A couple of minutes pass as he watches several youths get kicked out of a local store for shoplifting, or perhaps just being noisy and scaring away paying customers. They cursed the shopkeeper until they got bored and sauntered off to divide the spoils, a couple of bottles of beer and a packet of crisps. Another five passed as he savoured the warm light of the sun, he could feel it through his fur but it wasn't quite the same as feeling the the star's brilliant radiance on bare skin, a surprisingly primitive but uplifting sensation that he would sadly never truly experience again. He mused.

The bus came and he feels the throbbing rumble of the engine through his feet as he carefully steps into it. Guiltily he liked this part of his particular brand of TFOR, he had been forced to get used to walking barefoot because he couldn't afford two pairs of practically custom made shoes tailored to his specific needs, and so he discovered that while his feet had thick pads made to take the impact of walking he could feel every piece of rubble, every crack in the concrete, and now the sticky rubbery no-slip matting of the bus. Simple utilitarian and never quite clean enough, his feet always felt sticky after being in a bus and he tried not to think of what late night detritus had caused this particular sensation.

Folding one of the front seats out of the way, sitting down there for the ride. Though it wasn't quite sitting, a still quite confused part of him was convinced that he was still standing up allthough he was doing it on his hands and sitting down at the same time. To make matters worse he held onto one of the vertical poles for stability as the vehicle pulled away and manoeuvred it's way through the streets. In the face of this melting pot of sensation and confusion this little part of his mind curled up and did it's best to do it's job. The vehicle whisks them away to regions unknown. In this case the bus terminal. From there he went on to Rob's place up in the mews of an old hotel adjoining this teefer centric bar.

My kind of place now. He thought as he entered the former hotel and stops dead in front of the stairs.

Drat.

Sure, a couple of steps he could handle but going down several flights of stairs was a big no no, that's what other people are for.

Failing to find a handy someone in the 'hotel' itself he turned to the bar which was now essentially part the same building. As he entered the bar he eyed the colourful patrons and a number of them eyed him back. TFOR had done the weirdest of things to people and although it was taboo Alexei couldn't help but think they were weird, perhaps even a bit scary.

Get over it, you're one of them too.

“Um sir. Is Robert Gallian in?” Alexei he informed at the bar in his now quite sexually ambiguous voice.

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Alexei sat outside the old hotel lobby as Robert was summoned. He fidgeted, worrying about how Rob would react. He had gotten a mixed reaction from other friends and family. Though it was generally good, many were unnerved by his new look and some had terms coming to grips with the fact that he was still the same person. In Robert's case this was silly, he was a teefer himself and had been… “And still is a good friend.” He corrected himself.

His worries were cut short by the red tailed hawk with a bandaged wing that swooped down from the mews atop the former hotel and landed on a nearby bench.

<Hello? You needed me?> Robert asked in a burst of telepathy, startling the taur. He never had quite gotten used to Rob's telepathy and the four month forced break hadn't done him any good. With a jerk he looked around towards the bird. Sheepishly he asked “Um, hi Rob.“

<Hello&htllip;do I know you?> Puzzled Rob tilted his head in a very birdlike fashion, not recognizing Alex. Not that you could blame him. Since TFOR his voice had changed to match his androgynous nature, and photos wouldn't be of much help either.

Idiot one part of his brain said to the other. Alexei looked away, embarrassed because he had been so caught up in worry that he didn't realize Rob wouldn't recognize him. Nervously scratching behind an ear he shyly mumbled “I'm Alexei.”

Robert headtilts for a moment, straightens up...then droops a bit.

“It finally got me. ... I - I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier.“

<It's ok, you had to have been pretty sick...>

Robert sways just a bit edgily. He may have had his instincts generally in control but Alexei was a damn big cat. He would be intimidating to even a regular human, let alone a 1,5 kg bird.

“I'm okay now.“ The cat creature said, keeping silent about the antidepressants. The last thing he'd need was Rob getting worried about that too. He then tugged an ear to lighten the mood and joked “I got cool ears though.“

Robert responded with a telepathic snicker. <One up on me.>

He smiled. This reminded Alexei that he really wasn't too bad off. He had been told by his vet that with sufficient practice he might even be capable of mastering fairly level stairs, although the vet did admit that he was the first taur he had treated.

Talking about vets ... he eyed the bandage and stated the obvious. “You're hurt.”

<Not bad; it's healing.>

Alexei frowned. Rob was a small dude now and could easily get hurt. “What happened?“ For it was unlikely that he had fallen off his perch.

<Golden eagle went gunning for me at work a few days ago.> Which evoked a stare from Lex. “Damn... but you're a bird of prey too.“

<I am. I'm also smaller, and he or she was obviously hungry.>

“Damn I'm glad I'm still big ...“ He narrowed his eyes and thinks for a moment. The airstrip was one of the many places to start employing teefers for the powers some of them were gifted with. “But don't your guys have one of those people who can heal stuff?“

<They're off this week, so I'm on unpaid medical leave for a few more days.>

Alexei can't help but chuckle nervously and shake his head at the cruel irony of that. ”Ah, that eagle had timing.”

<Yeah.> Rob sounded vaguely bitter about it. Then changed subject onto something that had been bugging him for a couple of minutes now. <Your voice...it's...different.> It was. Definitely not masculine and vaguely effeminate at times but not quite. Ambiguous was a good term.

”Yeah, I had to learn to speak again from scratch.” He retorted, avoiding the issue, it was the main reason why he had needed all those antidepressants. A delicate issue, but at the same time he felt guilty for not being entirely frank to Rob.

<Yeah, I know how that goes.> Robert replied, bobbing his birdy nod. <Moving can't have been easy either...>

Alexei nods solemnly. “Yeah, that was ... wierd.“ Waking up from a near coma to find out that you've got an extra pair of limbs you cannot control, but are essential for even basic mobility wasn't fun. Nor were hands you couldn't properly control either. “It still is.“

Robert headbobbed in agreement as lex continued “I still confuse limbs alot and writing is a drag.“

<Howso?> He tilted his head.

In reply Alexei held out his right hand “This feels like my right hand.“ and then held out his right front paw “And this feels like my right hand too.“ He didn't mention all the other stuff that had gotten confused, duplicated or was just plain new.

<Ah...yeah, I guess it probably does.>

“They're separate and different but it's hard not to confuse em, I keep on breaking stuff because I try to use the wrong thumb.“

<Ouch...that's gonna take some practice. I had a similar problem, actually.> “With your ... umm feet?“ <Not that, so much as trying to use hands that didn't exist anymore.>

Alexei nods and grins. “Try dealing with an extra pair.“

Robert headbobs again.

“It took me months before I could even walk again.“

<Obviously, given your being out of touch.>

Alexei then clears his throat, attempting keep his voice deeper than it was naturally. “Yeah, sorry about that dude. But I guess this won't happen again.“ He says with a weak smile.

<Yeah, guess not. But again...your voice.>

Alexei looks down, as Robert waits for an answer. “It's nothing. I ... I “

<If its something you don't want to share, that's fine.> Robert assured Alex which broke down all defences “No!“ His voice went up to it's more natural tone. “It's just that I'm ... well, ... not a dude.“

The cat was out of the bag, and it was a weird one indeed. Robert tilted his head. <Uh...never heard of that happening.> Alexei noded solemnly in reply.

<Odd...to say the least. Sorry...>

“Just my luck I guess.“

<That's not lucky...so...um...how's it been, otherwise?>

Aside from getting the Torch, getting TFOR, spending all his savings on even the most basic of treatments he needed, losing his home and gender identity, things were looking quite peachy. “Okay I guess. Though it isn't easy to find work. Too big, clumsy, not enough education ... that suff.“

<Been there, done that...> He paused for a moment. <Sucks, doesn't it?>

“And ground floor rooms aren't common ...“ Ground floors were generally devoted to something other than rooms for rent. Shops and storage places made more money, and places with lifts were well out of Alexei's price range.

Robert headbobbed again.<Sorry, again.> He apoligized.

Alexei grinned fakely, trying to assure the bird guy of his optimism. “Well, I'm alive and more or less healthy.“

<That's what counts, yes...>

"Anyway, aside from your brush with the eagle, how have the last months been?" He cleared his throat, still occasionally trying to use a voice that is not his anymore. Though unsuccesfull it meant that he hadn't yet given up, that he was still Alexei and he'd be damned if he let some transformation get in the way of that.

<I've been pretty good. Just saving up money, running the campaign... Winter's on the way, so I gotta get them to clean up the mews at the airport.>

"That's good, still not house trained?" Alexei teased.

<Hey, that's a bit mean. It's just from not having been used for months.>

Alexei chuckled. "Sorry. You really wouldn't want to know what my shed looks like."

<Probably not to good? Lots of broken stuff?>

"But it's cheap." It was, when he had said that it was a shed he wasn't exaggerating. His room was basically a badly insulated shed with a basin and a lamp. It was drafty and becoming increasingly cold as the winter season set in, but it was dry and very cheap, and between his fur, a 'bed' made out of pallets, a huge beanbag and a number of blankets, and a tiny electrical heater it was bearable, if still quite spartan.

<Well, that's good. It took me so long to learn how to move and such again...>

Alexei nodded. "Yeah, I know what that's like now."

<Least you still have hands and can talk...although I probably shouldn't start the pity party.>

Alexei smirked. And thought: I'm a strong contender too ...

<How bad was the bill?>

"Oh, the bill? Like you wouldn't believe."

<Oh, I'm sure I would. I've paid it, remember?>

"Yeah ... of course. I had to sell about everything, lost the room. Not that I could use it now."

<Need any more help?>

"I'm okay now. I'm getting back on my feet" He looked down at the afformentioned feet "... literally."

Robert chuckled a bit and then makes Alexei laugh. <So, do you have two left feet for dancing now?>

Grinning broadly he replied positively. "Yeah."

"Anyway, how has the campaign going?"

<Pretty good. They're stealing an item from a god right now.> "Ah, pity the god."

As Robert chuckled Alex though that it might be a good idea to get back into that stuff, social contact had been seriously lacking after the torch. The first stages of the rehabilitation had really taken it out of him ( and his bank balance ) and former friends had grown distant to him. It was hard for someone to watch another suffer from such a disability and many took the easy way out.

He decided to inquire further. "What system did you guys use again?"

<AGILD.>

"Never liked the systems, FFCW's ( FreeFormCreativeWriting ) my thing." But to be honest beggars cannot be choosers.